Portable web access devices are characterized by a compromise between processing power and physical size or footprint. More specifically, the image rendering performance of such devices is typically worse than that of equivalent, non-Portable Devices. It is therefore common that the user experiences a delay upon using such portable web access devices to interact with remote servers and other computing devices across a wireless network. The problem is aggravated by the network speed itself, which can contribute a significant, additional delay. There is also a commercial hindrance involved, as the price charged for bandwidth use and the perceived slowness impart a sensation of poor cost-effectiveness to the user.
In many cases the amount of data circulated between the Portable Device and the remote server is unnecessarily large, which overburdens the network and unduly scales-up the Portable Device's data display and refreshing requirements.
The prior art of the present invention includes for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,356,570, by the same Inventor. Said prior art generally corresponds to a Portable Device that allows the user to access the Internet and World Wide Web through a small bandwidth, low speed wireless network.
Those aspects of the prior art which are essential for explaining the present invention are now presented. In order to overcome the compromise between processing power and physical size which characterizes portable web access devices, the prior art resorts to transferring part of the processing tasks from the Portable Device to a remote server. In the industry jargon, remote applications running in the server take over many tasks from the local applications running in the Portable Device. In a typical implementation of this principle, data input by the user in the Portable Device is transmitted in vector or ASCII information format to a Proxy server, where the data is processed. After processing the data, the Proxy server renders this corresponding output into bitmap format and sends it to the Portable Device. The Portable Device receives the bitmap transmission from the Proxy server and displays it in the Portable Device's screen.
The state of the art features inconveniences which are most noticeable when the user is typing in text data on the Portable Device. For instance, there is a noticeable lag between the moment the user strikes a key in the Portable Device's keyboard and the actual rendering of the typed key on the device's screen. This lag can be very distracting and also imparts a sensation of poor system performance to the user. The main cause of said lag is the circuitous route that the information runs across a typically clogged and slow wireless network. The vector or ASCII information input by the user must first travel to the remote Proxy server. Once there, the data is processed. After said processing, the output is converted into a corresponding bitmap image that must travel back through the wireless network to the Portable Device, where it is finally rendered on the screen. The problem can be compounded by frequent screen refreshing associated with continuous typing by the user. The lack of a data exchange management routine specifically dedicated to user text input results in inefficient use of the already small wireless bandwidth.
Consequently, there is a current need for reducing the user-perceived lag upon exchanging text data with a remote server as well as streamlining the data flow.